This is my second attempt at "introducing myself". Unfortunately my wife inadvertantly knocked me "Off Line" when I was going to post my reply (we only have one 'phone line, you see). My name is Eric McLoughlin (no psudonyms here), I'm married, as you will have already gathered and I work as an accountant in public practise. I am 41 years old. I live in Farnborough, England (home of the famous airshow) but hail originally from Dublin, Ireland. My interest in motor racing began when I was probably 7 or 8 years old. Seeing the film "Grand Prix" in the cinema - in glorious Cinerama - in 1967 must have been influential as was my dad's purchase of a Scalextric set for me and my brothers, also in 1967. A class mate also brought into school one day a Corgi or Dinky Cooper Maserati and I thought it was so cool. I was hooked. From then on I devoured any reading material I could lay my hands on. I read every motor sport book in our local library dozens of times. Keeping up to date on what was happening in motor sport in those days was extemely difficult, TV coverage was very limited and you had to rely on newspapers, out of date library books or sports magazine ptogrammes on TV for information. The first GP I remeber watching live on TV was the 1968 British GP from Brands Hatch (won by Jo Siffert in Rob Walker's Lotus 49).
Attending motor sport events in Ireland was virtually impossible, closed road racing, although legal in Ireland (unlike Britain) had ceased for cars for safety reasons by the mid 1960's - although motor cycle road racing still continues (eg the Skerries 100 and the Ulster TT at Dundrod). The only race track in Ireland is Mondello Park in County Kildare and that was too difficult to get to without a car. The only event I could get to was the annual meeting at the Phoenix Park, in Dublin. Imagine racing on the roads in Central Park, New York or Hyde Park, London. That's the"Park". The event still takes place, although it is but a pale shadow of its heyday in the 1970's. I first went in 1975. That year featured, amongst others, Formula Ford 1600's, pre-war historics, modified saloons and MG Midgets. The feature race was for Formula Atlantics. To give you an idea of the quality of the participants, the Formula Atlantic race featured Gunnar Nilsson and Tony Brise and the Formula Ford race featured Derek Daly (later of Tyrell and Williams fame) and a certain Mr Edward Jordan! I attended the Phoenix Park races for the next ten years. Highlights included Derek Daly demonstrating the Ensign F1 in 1978 - it was the first time I'd seen a Formula 1 car in action - boy was I impressed - and a "ding-dong" race between Stirling Moss (in a Chevron B8) and Richard Attwood (in a Porsche 917) in 1982. Moss won, much to the delight of the crowd.
I follow all the Grand Orix races on TV (I've been taping the highlight programmes since 1983). Now that I have Europsort I can also follow CART, GT, ALM and even NASCAR. I must admit, NASCAR I find hard to get worked up about. Sorry Joe Fan - I'm sure its a culture thing.
I've gone to one GP, the 1995 race at San Marino. It was a great experience, especially to be surrounded by the "Tifosi" on their home turf. However, I did feel that we were too removed from the action which to me was a shame. Thats the way it is in modern Firmula 1, unfortunately. I flatly refuse to go to the British GP at Silverstone. I consider £100 for a basic entrance ticket to be exhorbitant. I get my motor sport fix nowadays by going to Lord March's two historic events at Goodwood, The Festival of Speed and the Circuit Revival. Here you can mingle with the drivers and literally touch the cars. I've even managed to get some autographs, John Surtees', Richard Attwood's - he told me he let Moss win - and Jackie Ickx's. The reconstrution of the old circuit is almost magical.
Every year I drive down to Goodwood (only an hour from where I live) in my Caterham 7. See how badly I've been smitten, I even have to drive a car with a racing pedigree. Its a wonderful drive over sweeping English "A" roads. In Spring I'm planning to have the 7 modified so that I can take part in Lotus 7 Club track days. I'll finally get the chance to drive around some classic British circuits.

My name is Kevin Guthrie. I am 19 years old and come from Fife in Scotland, although I am currently living in Glasgow where I am studying English Literature and History at the University.

I have been obsessed with F1 for as long as I can remember, ever since my dad used to tell me stories about a brilliant racing driver by the name of Gilles Villeneuve. I am particularly interested in the history of the sport and would like to be a motor racing historian.

I am also a drum teacher and have been playing for 8 years. I am a big football fan as well (soccer in America). I support my local teams, Dunfermline Athletic (The Pars) and Cowdenbeath (The Blue Brazil). My favourite bands are Counting Crows, Eagles, Del Amitri, Led Zeppelin and Aerosmith.

Eric Mac:
Those Park circuits are really good, nearly as good as open road circuits and streets (literally) ahead of artificial circuits, in the main.
Albert Park, before it became what it is now (apparently known in this company as Melbourne) was a great course with magnificent sweepers by the lake etc. Its emaciation was not as bad as it could have been, fortunately.
Bathurst, or Mount Panorama, comes between the two, being public road that was built with a view to being closed for racing. Hence the fantastic esses and the glorious sweepers round the top of the mountain.
Still, Lobethal was better, and Longford almost as good.
Albert Park, by the way, was the scene of the fastest Aust. Grand Prix (1956, Moss,250F, at around 97mph) until Longford 1965 (McLaren, 2.5 Cooper, 114.7mph), having eclipsed the Lobethal record from 1939 (Saywell, Alfa P3, 83.9mph for fastest race time, it was a handicap and the race was won by Tomlinson,MG TA, at 79.52 mph). The Longford record remained until the new Albert Park race in 1996.

Not only a lot of Dutchmen here, but also a lot of ageing youngsters. I'm one of those. Born in 1951 in The Hague, Holland. From age 3 I was fascinated by racing cars and wanted to be in one. One of my earliest memories is seeing Stirling Moss in a Vanwall, braking for the Tarzan corner at Zandvoort - my dad had taken me to the '57 Grand Prix! I've seen a lot of races there in the 60's and 70's, from Formula Libre (= anything that didn't fit a proper formula) to Grand Prix. My boyhood hero was Jim Clark, and I still think the Lotus 49 is the sexiest racing car there ever was...

Somehow I didn't become a racing driver, but ended up in advertising, being a copy writer and creative director at an agency in Amsterdam. I compensate by driving karts occasionally, and driving tracks like Zandvoort, Spa, the Ring, on public days. Of course, I still want to be a racing driver which is where computer sims come in. I'm absolutely addicted to Grand Prix Legends. The online gameplay adds yet another dimension, not to mention the adrenaline. It looks like I'm becoming a racing driver after all...

Too right about park circuits. They are also VERY dangerous - even today. As I said in my intro, I went to the Phoenix Park last August and whilst not as classy as of yore, there were some inprovements - like toilets, for instance. Total length of Armco on the track was about thirty feet (opposite the paddock exit). The obstacles, of which there are many (eg. trees, milestones, gas lamp standards, park benches - even a pond!!!) are surrounded by straw Bales. The crowd are "protected" by a barrier nade from scaffold poles which also serve as an anchor point for the PA system. The event is totally FREE as the bye-laws of the park do not allow the public to be charged for any event staged within its boundaries.The timetable in the programme should only be taken as a rough guide to the running of the various races as in the end, whoever is ready to go is allowed out on the circuit. It is Ireland after all. Last year none of the Irish national championships held a round at the Park meeting, which was a pity. The Formula Fords(which are the biggest single seat category in Ireland) didn't even turn up! What a change from the old days when the everone wanted to win in the Park. It had the same prestige in Ireland in the 1970's that the Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch once had in Britain.

I'm known as Kevin Radford to the rest of the world. The name Rad was my nickname in the late 80's. I was born in Memphis Tn. in '69. That makes me 30 on the dot.

I have lived in many various locations throughout the South. Places like Milan,Tn. Johnson City, Tn. (I miss the mountains there)Nashville, Tn. Lebanon, Tn. Savannah, Ga. Atlanta, Ga. just to name most of them.

I now live on the Atlantic in Jacksonville(Jax) Beach.

Currently, I am an advertising/fashion photographer. I work for a major stock photography company as their Director of Photography. I also shoot as much freelance as my representative can get for me. I plan to start shooting racing events starting with a job I picked up for the upcoming Rolex24 in Daytona. I love all genres of photography.

I became a F1 fan at the early age of seven. The names Andretti, Stewart, Hunt, and Lauda where household names in my little TN. house because of my older brother. He got me hooked, and we plan on going to Indy together. I grew up watching the battles of Prost, Mansell, Piquet, and of course Senna. It was quite hard to get a broadcast (as it is now) but I had 'Autoweek' to keep me caught up on the sport. The internet has opened up so many more doors of information for F1 that I hardly read the rags anymore.

Besides F1, I enjoy US football (Vols, Cowboys, Jaguars, Falcons, and Titans)Baseball: The Braves

When I was a teenager I had a horrible car wreck that pretty much ended my athletic goals. I was a pretty damn good soccer player with scholorship potential. I still enjoy kicking the ball around however.I'm getting into SCCA racing with an old beater Rabbit. I plan to work on it and race it as a hobby.

In conclusion, I think that the BB's here at Atlas are the best on the web, and I hope that I can provide some interesting insight during the upcoming season to make them even better. Thanks!

I've seen racing from Phoenix Park shown live on TV in the UK for the past couple of years on a cable station and loved it. It really is a throwback to an earlier age. The racing is absolutely fantastic, I think of last year's Sylva Stryker race as an example of this. It's such a shame the Formula Ford or Formula Europa cars don't want to run there anymore.
I'd love to go there one year but I guess it must have been fantastic watching the Formula Atlantic cars in the 1970's or the Voiturette racing in the 1930's.
In 1995 Jean-Christophe Boullion demonstrated a Williams FW16 at the circuit and reached 163mph on the main straight!
He must be a VERY brave man.

BTW, I have movie, colour (color?) movie on 16mm of Albert Park, 1957/58. No Moss, but there are some Maseratis doing some nice drifting demonstrations. Particularly Kevin Neale's. But you haven't heard of him, have you. Neither had I until I got this movie, and I wondered why...

Thanks for your thoughts on the Phoenix Park races. It is still quite a special place even with the less spectacular cars. What cable channel did you watch the racing on? Was it one of the Sky Sports channels? As I was in Ireland for that weekend I watched edited highlights on RTE television.What struck me was how NARROW the track is - someting I'd never really appreciated before. I've even driven the circuit(s) and not realised their narrowness.There is barely room for two Formula V's side by side. Two distinct tracks have been used over the years. The original 2.6 mile "Hawthorn Circuit" and the 1.75 "Oldtown Circuit". It is the shorter one they are using at the moment. In fact, the Hawthorn Circuit was last used in 1982. The only section of track common to both circuits is the main straight which is, in fact, part of the main road through the park. They now use the straight in the opposite direction, turning right down towrds an area known as the Furry Glen. The old circuit headed down the straight towards Castleknock Gate but turning sharp right before reaching the gate at Mountjoy Corner. Watching MG Midgets heading en masse for Mountjoy was always amusing, loads of tyre smoke and the odd overshooter heading towards Castlenock. In 1975 Mountjoy witnessed a multiple pile up in the Atlantic race with some cars ending up upside down. One year Tommy Byrne sideswiped one of the gas lamps at Mountjoy in a Formula Ford and split the car in half, luckily with no injury to himself. The road then continued in a long arc past Ashtown Gate towrds a corner called Ratra. Ratra used to feature a triangular loop extension but this was removed later. A chicane, made of sandbags, was also installed on the approach to Ratra. From Ratra the cars headed to Monument Corner before turning right back onto the main straight. I was interested to here that Christophe Bouillion clocked 163 mph on the current circuit. When Derek Daly demonstrated the Ensign in 1978 he reckoned he was touching 180mph on the Ashtown Gate arc. He also said that he couldn't read his instruments due to the terrible vibrations caused by the extremely bumpy road surface. Its still as bumpy today, not to mention that the road is also "crowned" in the centre. If I had a scanner I'd include a map of the two circuits and some pictures from my programmes. I have all the programmes from 1975 to 1985 plus of course 1999.

I was watching the racing from the Park on the Irish station 'Tara Television'. They showed the RTE transmission of the event, covering it on both Saturday and Sunday. In September they also showed the Leinster Trophy live.

I remember seeing pictures of Niki Potterton in 1994 cartwheeling his FF1600 car through the air at the first corner, narrowly missing the top of a street lamp...

I have been meaning to reply to this topic for a couple of weeks, so if anyone's still looking at it...

My real name is Ian McKean. (Can anyone tell me why so many of you use pseudonyms? I don't recall even being offered the option of having a pseudonym when I registered)

I found the nostalgia board around two months ago and read nearly everything that first weekend. Also posted a few comments about Monzanapolis etc. Just what I like...

I was born in 1947 and was late to start talking. My parents were beginning to worry that I was simple, but when they took me to Harrods and bought my first pedal car I came up with my first sentence, "Put my car in there", pointing at the back of the shooting brake. So I was mad on cars and racing from the earliest days.

I think the first race my father took me to was at Silverstone but all I don't remember much of it. I do remember from about 1955 when we used to go to the Easter Monday meetings at Goodwood and the Nine Hour sports car races. I was an Aston Martin supporter in those days and enjoyed sports cars, GT cars and saloons as well as F1 and F2. I also went to meetings at Oulton Park and Aintree as a boy.

One of the great things about racing in those days was having non-championship F1 races and I saw lots of F1 racing before I saw my first GP, which must have been at Silverstone in 1960. Graham Hill drove a fantastic race that day but spun off near the end (as I mentioned in a posting recently about Hill). The last non-Championship F1 race I saw was when Rosberg had his first F1 win in the Theodore at a wet Silverstone meeting. I can't remember the year off-hand, but it must have been about 1977.

Sent off to boarding school at an early age, I used to look forward to the weekly fix from Autosport or Motoring News. In the 50's, John Bolster used to test some exciting sports cars for Autosport such as the Aston DB3S and the Cooper Jaguar raced by Brig. Michael Head. Some weeks after arriving at Wellington College as a 13 year old new boy in 1960 I was waiting to phone my fond mama and got talking with the other boy waiting for the phone kiosk. I was flabbergasted to discover it was Michael Head's son Patrick. (Patrick saw his chance and asked me to lend him 6p for the phone. I got it back three years later).

James Hunt was another contemporary at Wellington, but I did not know him to talk to and I am not sure if he was an enthusiast at this age. I don't think Patrick knew him either.

The grounds at Wellington are bisected by a dead straight road known as "the Kilometre", from which another avenue led up to the main school building. Patrick's father was well-known to the people that mattered at Jaguar and had been asked to comment on the prototype E Type. He had one of the first 7 E Types built and apparently Brigadier Head achieved 120 mph on the Kilometre when returning young Patrick to school after an exeat. I think the school had a speed limit of 20.

Another time I saw the Lumsden/Sargent Lightweight E Type parked outside College. I think there were only 2 built with this fastback body, the other raced by the Germans Lindner/Nocker. So this was pretty exciting for a schoolboy. I never found out what it was doing there, but assume that one of them (Lumsden or Sergeant) was addressing the school motor club.

After school I went to Birmingham University, as did Patrick, after a brief interlude in the Royal Navy. The Heads had been in the Army for about 4 centuries but Patrick's maternal grandfather had been an Admiral so the RN was just about OK. Patrick wanted to design racing cars but his father wanted him to get a proper job. Patrick gave in but rationalised the decision by considering the excellent Naval engineering college (I think it was called Manenden) where he would study after Dartmouth (and the Lotus Super Seven his dad promised him). But after a term he decided it wasn't for him (but he told some great stories) and decided to buy himself out. So the Super 7 went (actually I am not sure if it ever arrived - I never saw it).

At Birmingham, Patrick and I fell in with an extraordinary and multi-talented individual called Andy Dawson who had or claimed to have an encyclopaedic knowledge of all things and people in motor sport. For months Pat and I used to discuss whether Andy's stories had any substance. But so often the most outrageous stories turned out to be true. One of Andy's most irritating tricks was talking about his friend "Paddy" (Hopkirk that is). Patrick and I could never decide if he was all mouth or not. At Wellington it was not the done thing to brag or exaggerate. One day the three of us went to the Racing Car Show and Andy (of course) knew a side entrance. Who should be coming out of the side entrance as we were coming in but Paddy and Timo Makinen. "Hello Paddy" said Andy. Hopkirk barely noticed Andy, but to be fair, Hopkirk and Makinen were both the worse for wear - barely able to stand up, in fact.

It was Andy who got Patrick and me interested in rallies. Patrick and I had been sharing a gearbox kart but had got disillusioned with it. We went testing one day but ended up having more fun taking Pat's Morris Minor 1000 round the kart track. The three of us spent a lot of time together when we should have been working and all failed our first year exams.

Andy eventually proved his credentials; he won or nearly one the Motoring News Christmas quiz one year (which was fiendishly difficult because you had to know racing and rallying ). He was a very fast and safe driver, an excellent engineer and test driver, and a brilliant navigator. He came 4th on the RAC Rally one year in an Escort and won a couple of minor Internationals driving a Lancia Stratos. He ran and drove for Nissan Team Europe for a number of years. With a bit more diplomacy he could have been where Dave Richards is now.

After University I rallied for some years as and when money allowed, driving Minis, Triumph Dolomite Sprint, Triumph 2.5, MGB V8 but mainly Saab 96V4. I eventually got married and became a normal person apart from watching motorsport on the "box". I now have a wife and two boys, neither interested in motor sport. I get my competitive fix from playing squash and occasionally tennis, and occasionally playing GP2 (or indoor karting but I find them too underpowered to be fun for long). I have little hope of making my comeback but it may happen. I have a Modsports TVR 3-litre awaiting restoration and may get that essential missing part, a round tuit, one day.

Nomad,
Canberra's a great place, isn't it? Before you leave take yourself up to Mt Ainslie and watch a sunset, taking in the reflections across the lake and the city lights coming on.
And in Tasmania you must take time out to lament the loss of Longford. The locals will show you where the circuit was, and there's a display at the pub with some (often superficial) information. Take more notice of the pictures would probably be good advice.
Then just imagine the greatest race there - 1965, Clark, two Hills, Brabham and McLaren, at it for the whole 120 miles, with Phil Hill the spoiler keeping Brabham from winning his fourth Aust Grand Prix.

I've done a lap or two of the war museum. Some incredible exhibits that show man's ingenuity in crisis. It lies just below the lookout on the aforementioned Mt Ainslie, with a ceremonial drive from the front of the museum to the lake, the path of which is taken up on the other side of the lake by the High court, lawns and water ponding leading to Parliament House.

I regularly read this BB but rarely post, but it's a quiet week here for once, so why not?

I'm Pete from Surrey in Britain. I see many of the others are from the Land of the Free, so I am making up the numbers from the Land of the Expensive (injoke for fellow Brits). I'm old enough to know better (50) and have been into motorsport since my teens. I have been a rally co-driver for much of that time and am still a keen rally fanatic. I have been active in motor clubs for nearly 30 years.

I also love racing - the first big event I attended was the BOAC500 sports car race at Brands Hatch in 1967, sadly on the day that Jim Clark died at Hockenheim. That day started a life long enthusiasm for Porsche as I watched their 2 litre cars fighting the big Fords and Ferraris. My first GP was Monaco 1970 - I also went to the Canadian GP in 1974 at Mosport, plus many British GPs (often with track or press passes thansk to kind friends). Nowadays, I am content to watch on TV though, it is all too much hassle - old age creeping in I fear!

Favourite drivers were Graham Hill, Gilles Villeneuve, Carlos Reutteman and nowadays the perennially unlucky but ever cheerful Johnny Herbert (a real sportsman, in the mould of the good old days). I also like Alex Zanardi (I thoroughly enjoy following CART racing as well - every bit as good as F1, I reckon) and cannot understand Willimas decision at all - but then I have never been a fan of that over rated set-up.

As for BRG, in case you can't figure it out, it's British Racing Green.

best wishes to all, and keep up the free and frank exchange of views in this forum.

I haven't had much of a chance to check this particular tread lately, but really happy I took the time this afternoon. I never ceased to be amazed at the great people who choose to spend their time here! My thanks for doing so and make this forum the really neat place it has become.

And y'all just keep making it better and better and better.... HOOOAH!!

Name is Michael, born in Finland in 1955, lived in Sweden and for the last 29 years in Oz. Dad (sadly no longer with us) was an old bikie and knew the stories of all the greats in the forties and fifties still my interest was for four wheels rather than two. At my first visit to a race in sweden I timed one of the competitors and managed to find him later, when I told him his times he treated it is as the most impotant news of the day, that sold me on the sport, doesn't take much to please a 7 yr old (just wish I knew who it was). Been to the Adelaide GP but not Melbourne yet, ( I would have prefered Phillip Island as the GP site, but we can't have everything).
The nostalgia column is a boon for any motorsport fan. the Atlas site is simply the best F1 site and the BB in general, well any site that gets post from people like Don Capps, Dennis David, Pit Babe, Jay way, Psychoman, Red Fever, Frans, etc. etc. etc. has got to be good for you. To quote an old favourite that some Oz fans may recognise
"Atlas F1, Looks Good, Feels Good, Is Good"

Hi - I'm Sally. I was sent to this forum by Ray Bell to reveal my age which is "only" 35! Sorry Ray - are you still waiting for someone older than you?

I have always lived in the Hunter Valley area of NSW Australia. Have been a dedicated motorsports fan for as far back as my memory takes me and particularly love F1, Rally and Aussie V8s, but watch almost anything involving speed and wheels. I have been to three Australian GPs and eagerly awaiting my fourth - this year. It is also my dream to get to some O/seas races one day, but being a seperated mum of twin boys and on a very strict budget I can only dream at the moment.

I love reading this forum, but haven't contributed so far - I'm too busy being in awe of the wealth of knowledge the rest of you hold and share.

My real name is Pascal, followed by an unpronounceable surname inherited from my Dutch dad. I was born in Paris some 30 years ago, and quickly got interested in cars while growing up. As he could not really afford the real ones, my father used to collect die-cast models, and he ended up owning about 4500 of them! One can easily imagine how fascinating this can be for a young boy to grow up in such an environment...

What really triggered my interest for racing was our family's move to Monaco in the late 70's. All of the sudden, I found myself in the heart of things! Every year I would go watch the Grand-Prix at my dad's office, from which I had a great view on the harbour part of the track in general, and on the Ste-Dévote curve in particular. In 1984, I got offered to see the cars from even closer, and became a first-aid worker on the track. That's how I got to witness the great 1984 battle, getting soaked under the pouring rain at the entrance of the swimming pool. In 1990, I started working for the Automobile Club de Monaco in the press room, and ended up a few years later writing the official press releases, before the FIA got control of that too. That's how I got to translate from English to French the new F1 regulations to got introduced in 1994 following Senna's accident two weeks earlier.

Monaco was also a great place on a more human level. Most drivers are resident there, and it's not unusual to wait in line behind one at the supermarket or at the movie theater. Furthermore, I went to school with two guys who later joined the F1 circus, with considerable success for one of them.

Right now, I live in Paris where I held my last job, but in the last ten years I have spent time in the USA, Spain, and the Netherlands. And I still go back regularly to the only place I will ever call my home: Monaco.

The above is my real name, born and bought up in Kent, England - useful if only for proximity to Brands hatch and, later, Lydden.
I'm 51 and currently living/working in Dubai.
Have been interested in motorsports since mid-50's, raced motorcycles for a year in 1969. From 1985 - 1991 spent most weekends during the season engaged in timekeeping at most of the UK circuits - both RAC and ACU events. Follow most types of motorsport, big follower of the clubbies and my absolute favourite event used to be the FF Festival - I refused to timekeep those weekends and spent the entire time on South Bank.....

Still have three motorcycles (two stored in Kent, one here in Dubai) and my wife tells me I'll be OK when I grow up.......

Hello all!My name is Kurt, I live in Bellingham Washington, USA. I am a scrimshaw artist. A what you say? Well here: http://fineartscrimshaw.comI've been a race fan since my best friend's older brother took us to the '67 Laguna Seca Can-Am race. That was all I needed to see (and hear!). I got into F1 reading race reports in R&T mostly first by HNMIII, and then Rob Walker. My dad was a kart racer,so I got introduced to the sport in a personal way. Met great people, had a ball, learned about wrenching to win. Love this forum, I've learned alot reading through the posts. Thanks to everyone who makes it all happen!

Hello everyone, Buddy is my nickname, when you have the same name as your father everyone calls you by a nickname or junior. Ask Dale Earnhardt Jr. about the confusion that causes. Born on a Virginia tobacco farm near the North Carlina line. So stock car racing is in my blood. But the love of machinery led to the Formula one interest. I have been a auto mechanic (during the muscle car era of late sixes and early seventies) a diesel mechanic on heavy equipment and now am a industrial mechanic in heavy industry. When you tune a engine with a lap top instead of a screwdriver it was time for a gear head to leave. I have stood in the cold October rain at the Watkins Glen Grand Prix, fried at the July 4th Nascar Daytona Firecracker 400 as it use to be called. Was hanging on to the fence in the speed traps at Bristol dragway when the front engine top fuellers went thru at 250mph and the nitro made your eyes water. I pit crewed a SCCA car for a friend in the seventies, been to most road courses on the east side of the Mississippi. Have eaten my share of bad hotdogs and dirt at rundown dirt tracks on the east coast. I hope I can be a interesting member of this board; I am new to computers and can not type worth a damn. It seems most people end their notes with a quote. "Everyone screwed up; I just screwed up less"--Richard Petty after winning a race at a small dirt track in Ashboro N.C.

Hi, the name is Dino, the age 26, student mechanical engineering, living in Delft, the Netherlands.Racing is in my blood, some of them say, and I can't reject the impression it's in mine too. Have been an F1-nut since half season 1984, and when the next season the legendary John Player Special-Lotus became one with the even more legendary Senna, I was hooked forever.

Over the years I have grown deep respect for the abilities of F1 and WC Rally drivers and their sometimes truly exceptional achievements.Other series of interest: Bike racing, GP-series as well as SBK. The minor Formulas, F3000, F3 and the likes.CART, sportscars, BTCC, DTM, Trophee Andros.

Classic car restoring a hobby, an '73 02 Touring currently under reconstruction.Road racing inevitable; keep them twisty roads coming; currently performing rubber-arts in an Alfa Romeo 155.Tried to get my biking to the same level on my wannabe supermotard Yamaha DR200, but keeping my aspirations low for my own safety.

Considering a Berger interview, in which he stated, today's F1-drivers where little boys compared to the giants who raced the explosive power of the turbo's and in which he immediately corrected himself that Jacky Stewart's opinion would be the same about the turbo-boys in their relatively safe carbon-fibre monocoques compared to the real heroes in his days in their zero-tolerance aluminium rockets, I got fascinated by the history of Grand Prix racing.

Knowledge without a doubt a fraction of the true historians around here, I am glad to be in the center of the nostalgia conversations.Trully thankfull for the great job Mattijs Diepraam and Felix Muelas are performing at 8W, nice to meet you here.Kind regards to Don Capps and Dennis David for their publications, for sharing a wealth of historical GP-facts and for all those little details that make the past come alive.

------------------Greetz,Dino

Ecurie Historique d'Avantgarde

The Edge ... where the masses spectate, a chosen few compete and only one defines!

Heya racefans!
I'm Mark Alan Jones, 27, of Brisbane, Australia.
One of my current gods - Don Capps, has a couple of times pointed out I should drop by here. Finally when a link was posted I clicked in.
If the names familiar to Atlas regulars, I do a column called the F1 FAQ, which was also my first break into serious writing, I can't thank Bira enough for asking me. Only a few months later a connection was made with Motorsport News, and now I'm a freelance writer. For someone who was just a serios fan back in January last year it's been a helluva ride. I've coverred V8Supercars, Super Touring, GT-Production, Formula Holden, Formula Ford, Porsche Cup, Commodore Cup, HQ Holdens, Formula Vee and Australian Rally Cars at Lakeside, Queensland Raceway, Imbul State Forrest and last November realised a dream covering the very race I'd spent most of my life idolising. And now there is stuff beyond any dream that may yet happen too.

By professional I'm a subdivions design / civil enginerring drafter, which served for quite a few years to be for the hobby. I first bit the motorsport bug in 1977, yeah crucnh the numbers, aged 5, when I first glimpsed a 6 kilometer piece of tarmac which owns my heart and soul like nothing else and no-one else has ever had. On the TV, was a fabled race and a fabled racetrack. Today it's known as the Mountain, one of the three best racing circuits in the world, Mount Panorama, Bathurst.

The very young Jonesy shut up and watched spell-bound as Allan Moffat and Colin Bond barrelled down Conrod Straight the last time in the 1977 Bathurst 1000. The track fascinated me and most of the 22 years since then have been spent gathering every scrap of information about the legendary track. That thirst spilled over into motorsport as a whole. I've stood atop the Mountain at McPhillamy Park watching all manner of cars race by, I was almost squashed by Steve Winwood's XR8 Falcon in the bush at Imbul during Rally Queensland, driven the Queenstown stage of the Targa Tasmania and marvelled how anyone could race that, stood under the Viaduct at Longford mentally picturing Brabham, McLaren and the Tasman Cup hurtling Formula One cars past the now much faded Shell sign, I remember Surfers Paradise raceway before there was Indycars, and stood on Pole Position at Adelaide Grand Prix.

After 6 months as a photographer I decided I'd never have the money to upgrade to serious equipment and started writing "The Road to Bathurst" e-mail newsletter which inturn led to numerous web projects, AMIB, Super Touring Image Archive, and most recently VESRIX.

I'm sitting here in what has effectively become my office surrounded by books and videotapes and realising after many years of not really enjoying life, now I'm loving life like never before and there's a few people here abouts that have had a hand in that. It's truly great to be alive.

Seems I'm detecting interesting threads years after they've started, but this is the destiny of lurkers I guess.

Well, I'v been around here for quite a long time, even before the BB shut down some time last year. As you might already have guessed my name is Zoe (the rest of my name is left to your fantasy). I am living and working in Germany since 1964, which seems to classify me as a "gorl" I am a bit of a workoholic, single and loving it.

I got interested in F1 and motor sports basically in the early 80ies by a friend of mine whom I admit I have nearly forgotten. I was gawking at those F1 posters and calendars as early as the 70ies (started young, yes), but due to non-existent TV at home I didn't get to see my first motor race (on TV) before the eighties. This time period is also one of my favourites. I fondly remember Keke Rosberg, Stefan Bellof (one of the greatest talents I am convinced!), the duels between Nigel Mansell and Nelson Piquet and all that stuff.

I have never been to a real F1 race for a variety of reasons, but I don't really miss it.

Professionally I am working as a project manager in a large aerospace company.

My private interest in cars is focused on hearses, which is rather unusual around here but interesting and fascinating. In my profile you'll find a link to my hearse page in case you are interested.

AtlasF1 wise I pop over as often as I can manage, usually as a background task while waiting for a printer or during my afternoon coffee break; unfortunately our IP connection is pretty lousy and I am also quite busy, so I often come too late in a thread to actively participate. Nevetheless I enjoy all those funny discussions (there are some real clowns around), and the technical and nostalgia forums (fori?) are usually highly interesting. I have an Autosport subscription since 1990, but I am thinking of cancelling it since I get all that information here as well. The only problem is that I can't read AtlasF1 in the bathtub as I love to do with my Autosport.

As a newly registered member of The Nostalgia Forum, I might as well join the muster. I'm 37 and live in Stonington, Connecticut, a beautiful old seaside town and am a physician at the local community hospital in nearby New London. I can't say I've always been a race fanatic like many of you. It seems to have been more of a steady progression for me that's become more insistent with time. I can remember watching the Indy 500 every year as a kid, especially the horrible 1973 event, as well as watching Jackie Stewart race at Monaco on Wide World of Sports. My interest has really taken off, though, with my enjoyment of sim racing on the PC. The incredible Grand Prix Legends sim by Papyrus really piqued my interest and awakened both a passion for the subject and a deep respect for the courage of those who did it for real. Now I'm enjoying reading everything I can on the subject. Schlegelmilch's "Formula I: Portrait of the 60's" was also a wonderful find on Amazon.com, as was Oliver's "Lotus 49." I am by no means as knowledgeable as most others on this forum, but that is why I've enjoyed following the posts here. I posted my transcript of Stirling Moss' humorous and entertaining interview with David Letterman here because I know this was a place where I would find other people who would appreciate it. Nice to be aboard!

Interesting that several people mention Lauda's crash at the 'Ring as inspiring their interest in the sport!Just a note or two on my current activity in case it's of interest. My book on the disposition of the VW car and factory after the war (not much racing in it) will be published by Bentley in early March. I'll be in Detroit from 6 to 10 March at the SAE Congress to help promote it. On 15 May my new book on Dan Gurney will be published by Haynes, in series with Moss, Stewart and Fangio. As you know my next project in this series is Alberto Ascari, to be published in October. Also coming out in May from Sutton is 'Classic Grand Prix Cars', about the great front-engined racers from 1906 to 1960 -- just to remind people that there was life before the world championship started in 1950. Sutton is doing a nice job on it and I hope people will like it. I'm just finishing work on a book Haynes will publish this autumn called 'Racing Engines'. It covers 50 engines from the 1913 16-valve Peugeot to the 1994 Mercedes 500I that won Indy. This summer Iconografix will publish the first two books in what we hope will grow into a Ludvigsen Library series, using photos from our archive. One is '1950s Indy Cars' and the other is 'Exotic Corvette Prototypes'.Just to add to the fun, I have agreed to update my Posche book, 'Excellence was Expected', and need to complete that work by the end of the year. I have already made one research trip to Porsche that was very fruitful so I hope to have some new stories to tell.So that's my story at the moment. I still have to look ahead, so if anyone has an idea for a book that they think should be written I would be happy to hear about it!Very best to all F.1 fans throughout the world!

Oh, and I forgot to mention that you can see what else I'm up to at www.ludvigsen.com. ------------------Karl Ludvigsen

Keir is my real name.
Who would make that one up??
I became an autoracing fan before racecars had "wings", but after most had gone to rear engines.. So, I came into all this madness at a very interesting time. My fond memories include racing my Formula Vee, the redoubtable DG83, with my good fiend ZippyD, (who may prefer to remain nameless), and
all those great weekends at the Glen, the real home of the US Grand Prix. There is still nothing quite like a chilly October day
at the Glen to stir the old racing blood.
I can smell the camp fires and the beer now!!
One of my hobbies, or is it an obsession?, is
the game "Grand Prix Legends". If you enjoyed this period of racing, you can't help but be hooked and we have quite the underground movement going.
Favorite movies, "Grand Prix", "Le Mans"
need I say more??

Hi ZippyD is my real name!!!!! Just kidding. My real name is Dennis.
I became interested in F1 a very very very very long time ago because of my good old old old old old friend Keir. We go back to the Rob Walker era of Delahays(SIC)at Brookalnds and Hoover in the white house. Just kidding again.
My first taste of F1 happened in the great year of 1971.(SEX, DRUGS and ROCK AND ROLL) Keir and I hitch hiked the 300 plus miles from Bayonne NJ(God's country) to Watkins Glen, which as Keir states is the true home of the US GP. The trek to the Glen was memorable; Neo-Nazis, willing coeds, joints the size of you forearm, a muscle car driven by rich cowboy and his very hot babe. Hubba Hubba!!
The Glen itself was beyond my wildest dreams. Fast exotic cars, beautiful people, the BOG, hippies everywhere(the Glen was known as Woodstock on wheels back then) great music. A true communal atmosphere. Needles to say Keir and I made the annual pilgrimage each October with glee and gusto.(and other substances both legal and illegal)
I was fortunate enough to help Keir with his life long dream of actually racing. I believe I'm the 'G' in DG83 of DG RACING fame. We both had allot of fun getting that Vee competitive. It's a shame Keir never got to drive anything more competitive as he did amazing things with an old, uderfinanced, reasonably reliable("Well it wasn't doing it in practice!!") He is a true friend who I will cherish 'till the end.
I would like to play GPL as it looks like a great game. However I work with PCs all day and therefor do not own one. 8 hours a day around them is enough for me.
This forum is a great place for enthusiasts of all ages to gather. Perhaps we should all get together and go to the Glen in October and rent out the track and drive around. Either that or just camp on the grounds, eat horrible things for breakfast, yell rude things at any women as they pass, hear the ghosts of F1 cars and think of what was and what might have been.

------------------
"Pete, Do you sometimes get tired? Lately I have been getting tired. Very tired."

I got all nostalgic, reading that last one.
"My kingdom,for a time machine"
Yes, of course, you are The "G" .
Great days they all were.
That Glen idea has some merit, I think it's high time that we took the Glen back from those NASCAR pirates and showed them what real race cars sound like.
Now, before anyone gets the wrong idea, I have nothing against NASCAR. Racing is racing, but the Glen to me is holy ground and should be preserved.
I can hear Amon's Matra V12 now!! Can't you?

I got all nostalgic, reading that last one.
"My kingdom,for a time machine"
Yes, of course, you are The "G" .
Great days they all were.
That Glen idea has some merit, I think it's high time that we took the Glen back from those NASCAR pirates and showed them what real race cars sound like.
Now, before anyone gets the wrong idea, I have nothing against NASCAR. Racing is racing, but the Glen to me is holy ground and should be preserved.
I can hear Amon's Matra V12 now!! Can't you?

With the revered wail of the Matra hanging in the air, you express your thoughts the same as we would of Bathurst and real racing there. It, too, was pirated by an era which saw tin-tops take over everything.
I'm not so impressed by the shouting of nasty things to passing ladies, however, but I know this happens at Bathurst too. But it didn't so much when there were real racing cars there. And it never would have happened at Lobethal, for that was in a more gentle time, when spectators wore ties.
I'm going to start a topic about hitch-hiking (and other various) trips to major races. Now that was a great time of life!
Keir and ZippyD are both welcome to email me on more personal matters at any time - raybell@eisa.net.au

Hello All, I fess up, my name is not David Brown, but I do share the initials. I am actually David Black. I am 33, born in 66. I became a fan of speed at the age of 3. I grew up in the back seat of a '69 911T. I fit perfectly back then!

But of course the good times don't last. seat. Shortly before my 16th birthday(driver's license age here in Toronto), after spending years dreaming about graduating from the back seat to the driver's seat, my father sold the damn car. So I had to settle for TV and visits to Mosport. I still get up there some times. I hope Panoz will dump a load of cash into the track so we can see more great racing there. I have gone to most Toronto Indy's and have been to the Montreal GP once

I follow F1, Champcars and the associated lower formulas, and WRC. And when I can't watch those, well I will watch almost any racing for a while.

I have been in the restaurant business most of my career, but now spend most of my time working in marketing management of wine, beer, and spirits.

Greetings- I’ve lurked long enough, so I’ll take a deep breath and dive in. My name is Andrew Baumer, I’m 48 and a freelance CAD drafter in Oakland, CA.

I grew up in rural northern California, surrounded by dragstrips, dirt tracks and motocross, and everything was fine until 1963, when I was listening to the Indy 500 on the radio with my father (a family ritual) and began to wonder: just what is a Lotus and who is Jim Clark? By the end of 1964 I’d well and truly found out and I’ve been hopelessly obsessed ever since.

Let’s see: I have fond memories of the Ford/Ferrari battles at Le Mans, I think the 1.5 liter GP cars were amazingly beautiful (although I tend to think the most beautiful race car is always the fastest one from the most recent season); I saw the Times Grand Prix at Riverside, won by McLaren in his Elva/Chevy and dominated, spiritually at least, by the Chaparral 2E, wing and all (the Can-Am began the following year); my all time favorite driver is Nelson Piquet, for the same reasons I like Hunt, Hailwood and Innes Ireland; I highly recommend "The 1000 bhp Grand Prix Cars" by Ian Bamsey; and I don’t believe there’s anyone currently writing who’s fit to trim the beards of Denis Jenkinson or Henry N. Manney III.

Andrew - My dad used to own an Oakland! My true hero of my childhood, Charles Kingsford Smith, took off from Oakland! Why don't you email me (raybell@eisa.net.au) and see why I wrote the former comment?
I loved Jenks' writing - as you can see in the 'enquiring mind' thread, and I always looked forward to Henry N Manney III's stories, they were great fun.

I'm a 21 year old student living in Edinburgh. I've been following this Bulletin Board on-and-off for a long time now, well over a year anyway. I remember Don Capps (HNM III at the time) emroiled in a huge debate over Nascar when I found this place, so things haven't changed too much.

I've been watching F1 since the mid-eighties and I saw Herbert win at Silverstone, the only time i've been to a race. The foursome of Senna, Prost, Mansell and Piquet are my golden era. I would have loved to see Clark, Fangio and other greats in action.

I never posted because I spent all my time reading! I can't believe its possible for one person to follo wall that goes on on this BB.

Kev the Rev:

From where in Fife are you from? I'm from St Andrews originally, and I have many relatives in Dunfermline and Cowdenbeath. I'm not much of a footie fan though.

I have been folowing the news portion of Atlas F1 for a few years. Recently, I have been going to the BBS and found out that there are lively discussions that could go any where. Interesting. I have been a F1 fan since 1958. My name is Bill Yohey (Yohbi was given by my network admin at my old software and hardware company). I live at 7000 Ft. in La Plata County, Colorado, USA. So if I don't make sense somtimes, I could be snow blinded or a canidate for O2 (Rich knows that). The air is sure thin around here.

I have been building and support PC's since 1982 and love to modify software and hardware. Also, skiing, astronomy and trial riding take up most of my free time ( besides my Siberian Husky). Hopefully, we have a exciting F1 season this year. I could care less who wins, I just need a rush! PASSING, PASSING, PASSING!!!